Ok here is my story…. Back around 2008 I had a roughly 2000 gallons of saltwater tanks at my house (no tank over 135 gallons) but ended up having to sell it all due to moving to another state. In Dec of 2013 I decided to get back into the hobby and purchased a JBJ AIO 40 gallon and kept that until Aug of 2015 when I had to move again to another state so I broke it all down and sold that.
Now fast forward to Jan of 2019 I decided to get back into the hobby once again… So I purchased a IM 40 to try and duplicate my reef tank from 2013-2015. Well I bought a bunch of high end stuff and got it going but it only lasted until May before I got bit with the “go bigger bug” so I purchased a IM112. Before I could get it set up I found out the house I was renting was going into foreclosure so that pushed us to buy our first house. I moved in to said house in July of 2019 and got the IM112 set up pretty quickly as I had everything in various QT tanks and a frag tank. It didn’t take too long before I realized the IM112 was not the best option for my new house and of course the “go bigger bug” was nipping at my tail also. So I decided to order my new tank which has prompted this built thread. It is a Acrylic 96X24X24 (240G) display tank that I will be doing in the wall, the stand will be 48” tall.
A little about the house / fish room setup. I have a detached building that is 25’X24’ (600 Sqft.). 362 Sqft. of it is finished living space which is where me and my son spend our time playing video games, watching the fish and hanging out. 238 Sqft. is a climate controlled finished garage where the tank and all of the equipment will be housed. I have always wanted an in wall tank and what better time than to do it now!
Equipment I already have for the build:
LifeReef Custom Sump and refugium
LifeReef Skimmer
LifeReef reactors (3 if / when I need them)
Lifegard Aquatic Pro-MAX 90watt UV
Dual Sicce SDC 9.0 return pumps
Dual Maxspect Gyre XF350
Neptune Apex Controller with dual EB832’s
Neptune Trident
Neptune LDK
Neptune AFS
JBJ ¼ HP Chiller (if needed)
Jager Trutemp 300 watt heater
Finnex 500 watt heater
AutoAqua AWC
Seneye Reef monitor (can use during setup for ammonia monitoring)
Dual 75 gallon reservoirs (1 salt, 1 RO) with Reeflo Dart / Snapper hybrid mixing pump.
BRS 6 stage RODI with water saver upgrade and triple DI saver kit
The lights I currently have but will replace.
2 Giesemann Vervve’s
4 Orphek OR260 Blue Plus
1 Orphek OR290 Blue Plus
1 Orphek OR290 Day Plus
I am thinking about going with 2 Reef Breeders Photon 48-V2+ to simplify my lighting for $1200 or I can go with 2 Giesemann Matrixx II 4x54W T5's for $600. Thoughts??? I think I should just go with the Photon's
The IM112 is Bare bottom but I don’t know if I should do the new build as bare bottom or not. Thoughts???
I really don’t plan on making this a reef tank however I will plan on using what coral I currently have in the IM112 (I may eventually go fish only). What I have is a few pieces of SPS and then mostly Zoas, torches, hammers, Lobo’s, Scoly’s, rock flowers, BTA, Favia, etc.
I will be picking the tank up this weekend 12/14/19 and will most likely start the install the following weekend (pending availability of my helper).
I have attached a few pictures and one of the floor plan. The 11'X4' area is where I currently have my frag tank, dual 75 gallon reservoirs, and RODI system but I may move all that into the garage area as it will cut down on some plumbing. The tank will be in the wall that divides the garage from the finished area you can see it in one of the pictures. I have already removed all the shelving in preparation for the tank which can be seen in the pictures. The (2) 55" TV's will be moved to the back wall where the current IM112 is.
Now fast forward to Jan of 2019 I decided to get back into the hobby once again… So I purchased a IM 40 to try and duplicate my reef tank from 2013-2015. Well I bought a bunch of high end stuff and got it going but it only lasted until May before I got bit with the “go bigger bug” so I purchased a IM112. Before I could get it set up I found out the house I was renting was going into foreclosure so that pushed us to buy our first house. I moved in to said house in July of 2019 and got the IM112 set up pretty quickly as I had everything in various QT tanks and a frag tank. It didn’t take too long before I realized the IM112 was not the best option for my new house and of course the “go bigger bug” was nipping at my tail also. So I decided to order my new tank which has prompted this built thread. It is a Acrylic 96X24X24 (240G) display tank that I will be doing in the wall, the stand will be 48” tall.
A little about the house / fish room setup. I have a detached building that is 25’X24’ (600 Sqft.). 362 Sqft. of it is finished living space which is where me and my son spend our time playing video games, watching the fish and hanging out. 238 Sqft. is a climate controlled finished garage where the tank and all of the equipment will be housed. I have always wanted an in wall tank and what better time than to do it now!
Equipment I already have for the build:
LifeReef Custom Sump and refugium
LifeReef Skimmer
LifeReef reactors (3 if / when I need them)
Lifegard Aquatic Pro-MAX 90watt UV
Dual Sicce SDC 9.0 return pumps
Dual Maxspect Gyre XF350
Neptune Apex Controller with dual EB832’s
Neptune Trident
Neptune LDK
Neptune AFS
JBJ ¼ HP Chiller (if needed)
Jager Trutemp 300 watt heater
Finnex 500 watt heater
AutoAqua AWC
Seneye Reef monitor (can use during setup for ammonia monitoring)
Dual 75 gallon reservoirs (1 salt, 1 RO) with Reeflo Dart / Snapper hybrid mixing pump.
BRS 6 stage RODI with water saver upgrade and triple DI saver kit
The lights I currently have but will replace.
2 Giesemann Vervve’s
4 Orphek OR260 Blue Plus
1 Orphek OR290 Blue Plus
1 Orphek OR290 Day Plus
I am thinking about going with 2 Reef Breeders Photon 48-V2+ to simplify my lighting for $1200 or I can go with 2 Giesemann Matrixx II 4x54W T5's for $600. Thoughts??? I think I should just go with the Photon's
The IM112 is Bare bottom but I don’t know if I should do the new build as bare bottom or not. Thoughts???
I really don’t plan on making this a reef tank however I will plan on using what coral I currently have in the IM112 (I may eventually go fish only). What I have is a few pieces of SPS and then mostly Zoas, torches, hammers, Lobo’s, Scoly’s, rock flowers, BTA, Favia, etc.
I will be picking the tank up this weekend 12/14/19 and will most likely start the install the following weekend (pending availability of my helper).
I have attached a few pictures and one of the floor plan. The 11'X4' area is where I currently have my frag tank, dual 75 gallon reservoirs, and RODI system but I may move all that into the garage area as it will cut down on some plumbing. The tank will be in the wall that divides the garage from the finished area you can see it in one of the pictures. I have already removed all the shelving in preparation for the tank which can be seen in the pictures. The (2) 55" TV's will be moved to the back wall where the current IM112 is.
Last edited: